One-Pan Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli

Love cheese but hate doing the dishes? We know what you’re making for dinner tonight: one-pan cheesy chicken and broccoli. It’s just like a classic chicken and rice casserole, except you’ll only have one skillet to clean up after everyone’s good and full. And we threw in a favorite healthy green, plus enough melty cheese to please any members of your family who might not be on board with that whole vegetable thing.

This comforting chicken dinner has all the ingredients of a weeknight hit — it’s quick, satisfying, and it uses just one pot from start to finish. And as for the actual ingredients, you might already have all of them in your fridge. Got chicken breasts (or thighs), broccoli florets (fresh or frozen), uncooked white rice, a can of cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, and cheddar cheese? Then you’ve got dinner in the bagpan!

We turn to one-pan chicken favorites like our recipe for one-pan harvest chicken or one-pan pimento basil cream chicken when we need ideas to liven up chicken breasts that serve up maximum comfort with minimum clean-up. And chicken casseroles like our chicken tomato pasta bake or salsa chicken casserole always come through when we need crowd-pleasing comfort food.

Our one-pan cheesy chicken & broccoli has the best of both; it tastes just like your family’s favorite creamy chicken and rice casserole, but you can bring that singular skillet (one, we repeat, just one pan) to the table in less than 40 minutes. And we love that you don’t even have to cook the rice separately — just throw it into the pan uncooked.

We do recommend putting the pan under the broiler for a few minutes to get that cheese topping nice and bubbling at the end, but if you’re thinking, “Hey, I signed up for a one-pan dish and now you’re asking me to use the stove and the oven?!”, then just dig in and watch that melty cheese stretch.

One-Pan Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli


Makes 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 small onion or ½ large onion)
  • ¾ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into small cubes
  • 2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup uncooked white rice
  • 1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1¼ cups chicken broth or water
  • 1½ cups broccoli florets, fresh or frozen
  • 1½ cups shredded cheese (cheddar or other melting cheese), divided
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • kosher salt, to taste
  • ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-safe pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 2 – 4 minutes, until the onions have softened and are translucent.
  2. Add the cubed chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 3 – 5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, or until aromatic.
  4. Add the rice and cook for 2 – 3 minutes to lightly toast the rice.
  5. Add the cream of chicken soup and the chicken broth or water, and stir to combine. Bring the rice mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked (stir occasionally and check about halfway through to see if you need to add more broth or water, and to make sure that the rice is not sticking). Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
  6. Add the broccoli florets and half of the shredded cheese, and stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 more minutes or until the broccoli softens slightly.
  7. Remove the pan from the heat and top with the remaining cheese. Place the pan under the broiler for a few minutes, until the cheese melts and starts to brown a little.
  8. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Recipe adapted from Jo Cooks.